Dangerous Waters
by Lanthieriel
Summary: When a group of pirates attack a cruise ship carrying the President, it is up to a Secret service agent and a group of Navy Seals to get to the bottom of what happened and stop it before another ship is attacked and this time someone dies.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The sea was quiet after the storm. The waves had calmed, the skies had cleared, and the people actually felt like coming out of their cabins. The Captain even decided that it was time for a little celebration. The noise from the cruise ship drowned out the small motorboats, heading straight for them.

The men inside adjusted their weapons one last time as they approached the ship. Most of them were soaked from head to toe. The storm had blow up about the time they sailed from the small Mexican port. The leader of the group popped his gun one last time and signaled for the driving to cut the motor. The tide would take them the rest of the way. He turned back to the ship, watching everything. There were no lookouts or guards. Cruise ships like the old merchant ships didn't run heavily guarded unless they carried prizes. This ship had a very nice prize on it.

The boat stopped a few feet from the hull. The men paddled the rest of the way. They looked up at the ship, seeing that it would be next to impossible to get on board without some sort of assistance. A small man stepped forward with a rope wrapped around his shoulder. The leader gave him a nod to get him ready. The short man spun the rope four times and then let it fly. The hook quickly caught on the rail with no noise. The short man climbed up first followed by the others. The leader was the last one to hit the deck of the ship.

The music was even louder on board the ship. The men looked around for a long time to find only a young couple who were too drunk to even understand what was going. The leader nodded to one of the other men, who pulled out a taser gun. He shot the two quickly and began to move to where the music was the loudest.

Special Agent Kinsey Slater of the United States Secret Service stood at the back of the ballroom, adjusting her earpiece for the millionth time that night. It was hard to hear in the room; however, the music seemed to be interfering with her radio. She turned her attention back to the dance floor where the Chief of Staff was dancing with his new fling. His wife was back in Washington with the other wives. This had been a "boys" only cruise, which Kinsey had been reminded of by her partners for days. The other woman was one of the interns that was probably sleeping with her boss too.

"Are these things always this boring?" a voice next to Kinsey asked.

She looked over to find one of the FBI agents standing there. Ryan Dalton was a young agent who had been sent to perform protective duty as well. Kinsey found his company intrusive and would have loved for him to melt back into the wall. She finally just shrugged at him.

"This is my second one," she said, trying to keep the conversation to a minimum. "The first one, the wives came."

Ryan smiled. "Bet that was fun."

Kinsey glanced at him when she caught a scent on the air. It was strange because the room smelled of wine, the seafood dinner dish, cheap perfume and cologne, and cigarettes. This smelled like salt, sand, and fireworks. She looked around the room. Nothing had changed except a few dancers had moved off the floor. Kinsey fingered her gun as she looked around the room.

"Something wrong?" Ryan asked.

Kinsey forced herself to relax. She just wanted something to be wrong. She was young, impulsive, and just looking for a chance to prove herself. She pulled her hand away when there was a loud crack and the room filled with smoke. Kinsey pulled her gun as her radio went crazy with activity.

"Get eyes on the President!" Someone shouted.

"Get down!"

"Clear the room!"

Kinsey moved through the smoke, using the wall as a map. She could hear Ryan coughing and yelling out orders. Her eyes burned as she kept moving. She raised her gun when the smoke cleared a little. Kinsey knew there was a door close by. She ran her hand down the wall when someone brushed up against her. She felt water on her hands and the smooth feel of a wet suit. She spun only to have a knee smashed into her abdomen. She recovered as fast as her breath would allow and kicked out. She managed to hit something for she heard her boot crack something. The smoke had cleared, leaving the room with a very strange smell. She looked up in time to see a man standing in the middle of the room. He was tall, lean, and carrying a very big gun. He seemed to be seeking someone out. Kinsey started to talk into her radio when the man began shooting at the ceiling.

"Everyone drop your weapons!" he announced.

Kinsey immediately zoned in on his voice. They were off the coast of Mexico, but this man had a clear voice with no traces of Hispanic tones to it. It sounded more Middle Eastern. She thought about the rumors of Pirates around here, but this team was a lot more organized than normal pirates. She looked around to see that the other agents had lowered their weapons and were looking around. Kinsey turned her head to see that one of the men was holding the President. She thought about starting something but knew better. This was a hostage situation without a winner.

"Now, we are all going to play a little game," the man said. "And it's called Russian Rolette. We are going to start with the FBI agents and then the secret service agents."

Kinsey took a step forward. "Who are you?"

The man turned to her. He had a mask on, but she could see the hatred in his eyes. He walked toward her. His eyes were a deep, dark brown full of hatred. They sent shivers down his back as he got closer. He looked at her for a long time and leaned forward.

"You must be the whore," he sneered.

His breath stank. However, she did catch a hint of Arabic coffee though. Mexican, Brazilian, and Columbian all had a different odor that was more earthy. She thought of stepping back. But that showed fear.

"I'm a United States Secret Service agent," Kinsey snapped.

She regretted the words as soon as fist connected to her cheek. Her head flew back only to be shoved forward by a hand in her head. She opened her eyes to find that man glaring at her.

"You got a mouth," he growled. "Take her below."

Kinsey looked around the room for a long time as she tried to remember everything about it. The men pulled her from the room. The last thing she heard was a gun going off. She looked back in time to see Ryan Dalton hit the floor. She tried to get loose. They carried her to one of the engine rooms. Kinsey fought as hard as she could only to be dropped down the stairs with a loud and hard thud. She looked up as the men shut the door and her world went black.

Kinsey awoke to the sound more gunfire. She sat up slowly, only to have her head swim for a long time. She tried to stand, but only managed to sink back to the floor. She longed to scream, but her throat was too dry. She started to stand again when the door opened. She slid back against the wall when a light hit her eyes.

"We got a live one," the man said from the top of the stairs.

He came down quickly and walked over to her. Kinsey slid back from him as he started to touch her. He was tall with light hair, but she couldn't tell much else about his features for he had dark green and black pain on his face.

"It's alright," he said softly. "I'm Lieutenant James Curran, Navy Seals. We're here to get you out."

"The President?" Kinsey asked.

"He's safe,' the Lieutenant answered as he picked her up.

"Then, what happened?"

"You will be briefed on the way back to the States."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Kinsey sat in the briefing room in Washington, D.C., listening to everything that had happened. None of it really made any sense. The men had come on board and killed most of the agents before the Seal team arrived. She still wasn't sure how they had managed to get there either. No one that she knew of had called for help. She watched how nervous the men seemed that someone could have gotten to the President like this. One man turned to her and started to ask a question when the door opened. Kinsey looked up as two men walked in. They were both dressed in dress, white, Navy uniforms. One had red hair with a gentle face and bright green eyes. He glanced over at Kinsey and then looked at the other man. He had brown hair that was a little wild, and brown eyes that were full of adventure.

"Agent Slater, this is Lt. Dale Hawkins and Lt. James Curran," one of the men said. "They led the rescue mission."

Kinsey looked up at James and smiled for a brief second. She remembered him from the boat. She had protested him carrying her, but he hadn't listened to her. The men took seats. Dale seemed a little nervous about all the suits sitting there, but James seemed very at ease.

"I have one question," Kinsey said suddenly.

The men in the room turned to her. She swallowed a little at having all the officials looking at her. She turned to the two Navy Seals.

"How did you know about us needing help?" Kinsey asked.

"The ship did not make a checkpoint," James spoke up before Dale could. "When they didn't radio the coastguard at the checkpoint, we went looking around and they found that it hadn't checked in for over three hours. They tried to contact the ship. When no one answered, we were called in for a rescue mission."

Kinsey tried to think. She knew that she had lost consciousness a few times, but she could not have been out that long. She noticed James watching her as if he was assessing her. She looked down at the table, knowing that everyone was watching her. She looked back up at the two men.

"Do you know how long I was out?" she asked.

"No," James replied quickly.

"You were lucky we even found you," Dale suddenly spoke up.

James shot him a dirty look. Kinsey watched the two of them She could tell that James was the leader. He had a no nonsense manner about him. And he seemed very concerned about what had happened to Kinsey. Dale didn't really seem to care on way or the other about anything or anyone.

"He's right Agent Slater," one of the chiefs spoke. "No one even knew you were missing except one of the Federal agents kept saying your name."

Ryan Dalton. Kinsey had just left his funeral an hour before the meeting. The pain and emotion from that was still eating at her. Now, she was thinking about him saying her name and telling the team that she was missing. Thinking about this though made her think of something else. Why had they taken her out of the room? Kinsey looked up at the two men before her.  
>"Who was the agent?" she asked.<p>

James looked at her. "Dalton. Agent Dalton. He said you were taken from the room."

"Kinsey was the only female agent on the ship at the time," the oldest chief said.

James looked over at her. "Is that true?"

Kinsey nodded. "There were interns, assistants, and secretaries, but no other female agents."

James looked down at the table. He had a look that said he was thinking about something. He could have easily been thinking that it didn't really matter that she was the only female agent on board. There was something more to this that no one was really seeing at the moment.

"We brought these men in to see if they could assess what really happened," one the chiefs said.

Kinsey looked at James. He pulled out a folder and slid it to her. She opened it, staring at the pictures. The room was full of dead bodies. Most had been shot, but there were wounds such as stabs and even a beating. She moved past the pictures to look at the report that had been drawn up on the ship. It explained most everything that had happened. She shut the file and looked back at them.

"It doesn't tell me anything I don't already know," Kinsey said, folding her hands.

"Was there anyone on board that you didn't know?" James asked.

Kinsey shook her head. "If you are suggesting an inside job, it wasn't on our end. But there were five other agencies involved in this."

"No one is blaming the secret service," the chief said.

Kinsey sighed and looked around the table. There was nothing left to say. She didn't know or even remember all that had happened. She just knew bits and pieces. It had seemed to her that the men had singled her out. She picked up the file and stood.

"May I go, gentlemen?" she asked.

The chiefs of staff nodded. She quickly walked from the room, hoping to get to her car. They were looking for someone to blame and at the moment she looked like an easy target. She got out to the car when she felt someone behind her. She turned around to find James standing there.

"I'm sorry if I upset you," he said quickly.

Kinsey looked at him for a moment. "You didn't."

"You know something else happened on that ship."

Kinsey looked at him. "They know too. And they also know it is going to happen again."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Kinsey stared at the computer screen until she thought her eyes were going to go cross. The articles ran together after she read three of them. They all seemed to say the same thing. Senators, governors, and even higher officials had all been attacked. It had been in different area though, and none of them had been American. She stretched, looking around at her small apartment. The temporary leave she was on was going to force her into cleaning it.

She stood up, going to the window. The view from her little apartment overlooked the great view of Washington. In the very distance, she could see the Capital. It would be dark soon, which means the view would be even better. She stayed there for a minute, thinking.

The incident on the ship still played on her mind. At night, she went to bed thinking about and wondering what had really happened. There was something in the file that ate at her. She went over and picked it up. The words didn't seem any clearer to her. The thing that bothered her the most was that the men had gotten on the ship. She had seen all the movies where the terrorists got on the plane, ships, or even in the White House. However, she knew it was not that simple. They allowed no media on the ship that night. They were going to meet them on the shore the next day. She flipped another page when her phone rang. She quickly pushed the file away and picked up the phone.

"Agent Slater?" the man said on the other line.

"Yes," Kinsey replied. "Who is this?"

"It's James Curran."

Kinsey stared at the phone. It was one of the Navy Seals who rescued her. The one she thought was cute. She swallowed a little, wondering why he was calling. Her disciplinary hearing was in two days. And he wasn't going to be a witness as far as she knew.

"How can I help you, Lieutenant?" Kinsey finally asked.

"I was actually calling to help you," he replied. "Can we meet for coffee or lunch?"

The statement really threw Kinsey. She couldn't figure out what this was about. She took a deep breath, trying to decide how to answer that question. It couldn't be that bad to do it; the man did save her life.

"How about dinner tonight?" Kinsey turned the question on him.

"Perfect," James said quickly. "Bring the file when you come."

Kinsey smiled a little. She should have guessed this was more about official business than a date. "Where would you like to go?"

James laughed. "Nothing too fancy."

Kinsey nodded and named the place. It took her only about an hour to get ready. She changed into some black skinny jeans and red, cowl neck sweater. The bar was crowded for a Thursday night, but she was actually glad of it. She walked over to the corner booth and sat. It only took a minute before the Lieutenant sat down.

"Thank you for seeing me," he said quickly.

Kinsey nodded. "Why did you want to see me?"

James took a deep breath and started to tell her when the waiter walked up. Each of them ordered a beer and a burger. She watched James closely as he took a drink. He kept staring at the file. She was keeping it just out of his reach.

"I have been working on my report for the incident, and some things just don't seem to adding up," James admitted finally.

Kinsey looked up at him. "You get that feeling too."

James looked up at her for a moment. He remembered when they found her. They had left all the other hostages in the ballroom. Something else was supposed to happen in that room. But why take her out? Kinsey seemed to thinking the same thing as him. The other agents had died.

"What is your specialty, Agent Slater?" James asked as the food arrived.

"It's Kinsey, Lieutenant."

James smiled at her. "It's James."

Kinsey gave him a nod and a sweet smile. She was actually glad he asked her. It was nice to be out of the apartment. She moped for the first three days she had been on leave. She felt like she been punished. Now, at least she knew she wasn't crazy. She thought back to what he had ask her.

"My specialty?" she asked.

James nodded. "Most agents that have a position you do have some sort of specialty. Man or woman."

Kinsey laughed at his very quick add on. "My specialty is language."

James took a swig of beer and looked at her. "How many do you speak?"

Kinsey finally took a long plug on her beer. She gave him a small shrug. Kinsey only spoke four languages. There were women at the FBI that spoke more far more than that. She had advance quickly because she mastered Arabic. Her gift wasn't speaking it though.

"I speak four," she said. "But my gift isn't speaking other languages."

James gave her a funny look. "Then what is it?"

"I can detect accents."


End file.
